Yankee great Jorge Posada has sued his money agents for allegedly duping him out of $11.2 million — stealing a major chunk of his wealth just three years after he retired from baseball.Posada’s civil suit, filed in Miami-Dade County on Monday, claims financial advisers Juan Carlos Collar and Anthony Fernandez defrauded him into investing in a shady real-estate deal in 2005 as well as sinking millions into risky hedge-fund transactions beginning in 2007 while he was still the star catcher for the Bronx Bombers.Posada’s lawsuit suggests he’s taking a big financial hit. His estimated worth is $45 million — but that may not fully take into account tax liabilities and fees paid to his agents. 
“Like many professional athletes, Jorge’s baseball career had a brief window of earning opportunity. It was therefore critical that he preserve the proceeds of his professional success to provide for his family needs for the rest of their lives. Collar and Fernandez (defendants) at all times knew, or should have known, that Jorge’s earning potential was indeterminate and short-term, and that retirement was always imminent,” Posada’s lawyer, Barry Lax of Lax & Neville, wrote in the suit.The lawsuit said Posada and his wife, Laura, a lawyer, were “naive” and “inexperienced” investors.Posada, 44, a Puerto Rican native who resides in Florida, sold his 11th-floor four-bedroom, five-bathroom condo in the Seville complex on East 77th Street for $9.5 million. The property was first listed at $11.5 million.He purchased the units in 2003 and 2007 for $6.8 million, combining them into one residence.The Jorge Posada Foundation listed $92,000 in assets, according to 2012 tax returns. The foundation helps families with children afflicted with the birth defect Craniosynostosis. Posada’s son, Jorge, has the birth defect that affects the skull.Collar and Fernandez had managed Posada’s finances since 1999 — through Merrill Lynch and then their own firm, Quantum Family.The suit claims the duo scammed Posada into investing $3 million of his money into a speculative real-estate deal called Sunset Trails. The plan was to develop “a wealthy equestrian community” in Highlands County.The advisers bought the property through Sunset Trails for $13 million — $5 million more than what it had been purchased for earlier that day, the suit says.The money managers then had Posada sign papers personally putting him on the hook for debt to finance the real-estate deal, the suit says.The Posadas also invested $8.1M into their managers’ Quantum Hedge Fund — half their investable assets. And they were charged exorbitant fees, the suit says.“The value of the Quantum has plummeted and the Posadas have incurred ongoing damages of at least $4.8 million,” the suit says.Lax told The Post the Posadas were “just victims of fraud.”Posada, reached at home, declined to comment. Collar and Fernandez couldn’t be reached for comment. The number for their firm, Quantum, was disconnected.Ken Davidoff and Carl Campanile/ New York Post
“Like many professional athletes, Jorge’s baseball career had a brief window of earning opportunity. It was therefore critical that he preserve the proceeds of his professional success to provide for his family needs for the rest of their lives. Collar and Fernandez (defendants) at all times knew, or should have known, that Jorge’s earning potential was indeterminate and short-term, and that retirement was always imminent,” Posada’s lawyer, Barry Lax of Lax & Neville, wrote in the suit.The lawsuit said Posada and his wife, Laura, a lawyer, were “naive” and “inexperienced” investors.Posada, 44, a Puerto Rican native who resides in Florida, sold his 11th-floor four-bedroom, five-bathroom condo in the Seville complex on East 77th Street for $9.5 million. The property was first listed at $11.5 million.He purchased the units in 2003 and 2007 for $6.8 million, combining them into one residence.The Jorge Posada Foundation listed $92,000 in assets, according to 2012 tax returns. The foundation helps families with children afflicted with the birth defect Craniosynostosis. Posada’s son, Jorge, has the birth defect that affects the skull.Collar and Fernandez had managed Posada’s finances since 1999 — through Merrill Lynch and then their own firm, Quantum Family.The suit claims the duo scammed Posada into investing $3 million of his money into a speculative real-estate deal called Sunset Trails. The plan was to develop “a wealthy equestrian community” in Highlands County.The advisers bought the property through Sunset Trails for $13 million — $5 million more than what it had been purchased for earlier that day, the suit says.The money managers then had Posada sign papers personally putting him on the hook for debt to finance the real-estate deal, the suit says.The Posadas also invested $8.1M into their managers’ Quantum Hedge Fund — half their investable assets. And they were charged exorbitant fees, the suit says.“The value of the Quantum has plummeted and the Posadas have incurred ongoing damages of at least $4.8 million,” the suit says.Lax told The Post the Posadas were “just victims of fraud.”Posada, reached at home, declined to comment. Collar and Fernandez couldn’t be reached for comment. The number for their firm, Quantum, was disconnected.Ken Davidoff and Carl Campanile/ New York Post
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